From: Stanton McCandlish <mech@eff.org>
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 93 15:02:37 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY ROUNDTABLE -- a cast of billions (fwd)
Message-ID: <199310262200.AA16091@eff.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



         TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY ROUNDTABLE


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                CONTACT:  Jeff Chester
OCTOBER 26, 1993                               (202) 628-2620


     New Coalition Unveils Public Interest Blueprint
   for America's 21st Century Telecommunications Highway

Washington, DC -- A new coalition, the Telecommunications
Policy Roundtable, is calling on Americans to make their
voices heard on seven vital issues of communications
policy.   The coalition's goal is the creation of new
approaches to building our nation's emerging information
infrastructure.
        The Telecommunications Policy Roundtable is a
public interest coalition of more than seventy
organizations.  Its statement of principles comes less
than a month after the Clinton administration released
its own blueprint:  "National Information Infrastructure:
Agenda for Action."  The Clinton program envisions a
national network linking computer, telephone and
television technologies.
        The statement also follows dramatic developments in
the telecommunications industry, including the planned
merger of Bell Atlantic and Tele-Communications
Incorporated (TCI).
        The statement, entitled "Renewing the Commitment to
a Public Interest Telecommunications Policy," outlines a
series of  principles, and introduces them with this
credo: "We believe that the following principles must
guide policymaking in order to ensure that future
generations inherit an information infrastructure which
enhances the quality of life for everyone."

The seven principles are:

o       Universal access -- In our information age,
everyone has a right to affordable news, education
and government information.  Information that is
essential to the functioning of citizens in a
democracy should be free.

o       Freedom to Communicate -- Information is a two way
street.  The design of the new networks should aid
two-way audio and video communication from anyone
to any individual, group or network.

o       Vital civic sector -- The new networks should allow
all groups and individuals to freely express their
ideas and opinions.  The new networks should
include a way for us to build communities.

o       Diverse and competitive marketplace --  No one
should ever control both the wire or wires into our
home and the content of the programs that go over
those wires.

o       Equitable workplace -- workers must be valued and
protected in the new electronic workplace.
Nondiscriminatory practices must form the core of
the new information marketplace.

o       Privacy protection -- Privacy should be carefully
protected and extended.

o       Democratic policy making -- Every American deserves
to be heard on this complex set of issues.

        The coalition meets monthly in Washington, DC.  A
complete list of member organizations is attached.

        TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY ROUNDTABLE

              Member Organizations

List Current Through October 26, 1993

Alliance for Community Media
Alliance for Public Technology
American Arts Alliance
American Association of Law Libraries
American Civil Liberties Union
American Council of the Blind
American Library Association
Arts Wire
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Association of America's Public Television Stations
Association of Research Libraries
The Benton Foundation
Boston Computer Society, Public Service Committee
Center for Civic Networking
Center for Excellence in Education/Advanced Engineering Research &
        Associates
Center for Media Education
Center for Policy Alternatives
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Computer Researching Association
Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Consumer Federation of America
Coalition for Networked Information
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Gallaudet University
Government Accountability Project
High Performance, an arts magazine
The Information Trust
Institute for Public Representation
Institute for Alternative Journalism
Iris Network for Teachers, an on-line system on the MetaNetwork
The Legacy Project
Libraries for the Future
Lowenstein and Associates
Media Access Project
Medical Library Association
Minority Legislative Education Program
National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture
National Association for the Deaf
National Association of Artists Organizations
National Capitol Area Public Access Network (CapAccess)
National Center for Law and Deafness
National Citizens Communications Lobby
National Coalition on Black Voter Participation
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History
National Federation of Community Broadcasters
National Learning Foundation
National Security Archive
National Writers Union (Local 1981 UAW)
New York Foundation for the Arts
OMB Watch
People for the American Way
Public Citizen
Public Service Telecommunications Corporation
Seattle Community Network
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc.
SLONET
Special Libraries Association
Sports Fans United
Taxpayer Assets Project
The Technology Education Council of Somerville (Massachusetts)
Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc.
Telecommunications Committee, National Association for the Deaf
Telecommunications Section of the Community Development Society
TVFA,  Television for All
Telluride Institute/InfoZone
Unison Institute
United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc.
U.S. Public Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery
World Institute on Disability
Writers Guild of America, East, Inc.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For more information about the Telecommunications Policy Roundtable, please
contact Jeff Chester at the below address.

        C E N T E R  F O R  M E D I A  E D U C A T I O N
              1511 K Street, NW, Suite 518
                Washington, DC  20005
             Telephone: (202) 628-2620
                Fax: (202) 628-2554
             Internet: cme@access.digex.net





-- 
-=> mech@eff.org <=-
Stanton McCandlish     Electronic Frontier Foundation Online Activist & SysOp
"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood of
ideas in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." -JFK
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